There was and endless list of possible suspects. Hundreds of letters allegedly from the murderer were sent to the police, news agencies and individuals associated with solving the crimes. There were many suspects from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of Sherlock Holmes, to The Duke of Clarence, Queen Victoria’s grandson. In the blind fear-inspired rage of the local residents, they looked for scapegoats and seized on the growing Jewish community as a target. Hoax letters were given to the police about people claiming to be the murderer, but one was considered real after what was said in the letter happened,
Dear Boss,
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now? I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. Ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladies ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, and then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck.
Yours truly
Jack the Ripper
Dont mind me giving the trade name
P.S. Wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I'm a doctor now. Ha-ha
The scary thing is that the ripper actually kept to his word in this letter but there were many suspects and it was practically impossible to catch, “jack the ripper”. This is a list of the following qualities that the police felt that the ‘Ripper’ suspect must have:
• A white male;
• Average or below average height;
• Between 20 – 40 years old;
• did not dress as a labourer or homeless person;
• Had accommodation in the East End of London;
• Possibly had medical connections;
• May have been a foreigner;
• Right handed;
• Had a regular job as murders took place at the weekend;
• Was single so that he could commit the murders.
• Royal Conspiracy;
• Maybrick Diaries;
Police back then weren’t as bad at their job as people thought, they tried to catch the murderer but back then they were held back because they didn’t have our modern luxuries, radios, security cameras, forensic detectives etc. without our modern technology it was extremely hard to find the murderer so this was a massive impediment on the police force. With all the hoax letters given to them this just added to their ever growing problems. It is important to remember that murdered prostitutes were hardly the news or a respectable side of London society so the police gave them a low priority at first. The police officers working the case were constantly changed making it difficult for the continuity of investigation. Police officers often interfered with evidence - Sir Charles Warren’s (Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) decision to erase all trace of a ‘Ripper’ message by rubbing it out, at his insistence of it somehow causing "religious trouble". His actions were made even more extraordinary in the fact that he had acted out of his jurisdiction, as the crime had occurred in the City of London. Police today have developed elaborate profiling techniques to identify serial killers and have amassed a database of information with which forensic psychologists and psychiatrists can determine the kind of individual perpetrating the crime. In 1888, the police were ignorant of sexual psychopaths. They had seen nothing like the Ripper crimes in England in their experience. They may have failed, but they failed honourably, having made every effort and inquiry in their power to free London of the unknown terror.
The murders of Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888 were confined to a small area of London's East End, the people that lived there knew all the goings on because back in them days you couldn’t sneeze without someone knowing about it, so the public knew all about it and thought they were a part of the story, but likewise the mutilations provoked a nation-wide panic whipped up by press sensation. The press received the ‘Dear Boss Letter’ but did not believe it. The editors treated the letter as a hoax and did not send it to the police for a couple of days. The night after the police finally received the letter, Liz Stride and Kate Eddowes were murdered. It was at this time when the murders were becoming known worldwide Even at this early stage the newspapers were carrying theories as to the identity of the killer, including doctors, slaughterers, sailors, and lunatics of every description. The murders created major public outcry in its short span, but it wasn't until details of the second murder were released that the media circus started hounding the police and speculating on who the 'Ripper' might be. Without the media the jack the ripper murders wouldn’t have been as well known, they were the only outlet for the people, the media made the ripper famous, without the media he wouldn’t be world renowned and as he said “I paved the way for the 19th century” he wouldn’t have paved the way without the useful help of the media.
To sum up jack the ripper murdered 5 women, all were prostitutes. He murdered them in the most brutal of ways, mutilation; he had no remorse for the victims. The murders happened in the east end of London, in whitechapel and they happened between August and November 1888 there was a range of suspects. From the Queens grandson, to a famous writer, the police couldn’t pin-point a main suspect because they received numerous hoax letters and false allegations of people claiming to be the murderer and also they didn’t have the technology we have today, so it made life harder for them to find out who the murderer was. Without the media the legend of jack the ripper wouldn’t be as famous as it is. The media glammed up the murders and made them world renowned the ripper murders wouldn’t be what they are today without them. In my opinion jack the ripper wasn’t caught because the police didn’t have our technology which was a immense hindrance towards them, if they had what we have today, they would’ve had a much better chance of catching him and solving the case once and for all, they were furthermore held back by the fact that they weren’t supported by the public because they gave them fraudulent letters which is a very important reason for them being unable to catch him
